Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

“Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy”

Theodore Roosevelt

We as humans naturally compare ourselves to others. It happens everyday, we cant help it. Whether that be in the gym comparing your personal appearance, comparing other people performances or how much weight another person has lost. Some comparison can be good as a source of motivation and competition to improve and match those of someone who may be ahead of you, however, there is a limit to comparison and these days it can be heavily focussed on to social media.

It isn’t hard to hop onto social media these days and find perfect lives, in glamorous places with perfect bodies, new PB’s in the gym, great career achievements within every post and for you to compare those posts to your own lives, weight loss journeys and own current situation in life.

Sometimes this can be you comparing your life to someone you know or even to someone you have never met or heard of before. This comparison can cause you to start questioning everything you are doing, whether you are doing the right work, the right program, the right career choice and everything in between.

However, what we need to remember is that there are two things on social media; one is missing, the other is altered.

Context is missing.

Reality is altered.

Often with these ‘posts of perfection’ you don’t see the weeks of failed attempts before, the times where they didn’t achieve their weight loss goal, or the countless hours of set up, lighting, pre – pump, and attempts to get the perfect angle and pose for that perfect photo; you only see the finished product. The context is missing. What has now been created is an altered reality whereby you believe they always look like that 24/7, are always achieving their goals and never failing.

Sometimes we fail to take a step back, remember this and realise how unrealistic these comparisons are.

Here are some top tips to avoid this feeling and to stop this comparison of robbing you of your joy.

Your only competition is your former self.

Focus on your own goals and journey. That is the only journey that matters.You are the only one in control of what you are doing and where you are going. Immerse yourself in activities that leave you feeling better for having engaged in them and help you achieve your goals.

2. Limit your time on social media.

This can be difficult due to the age of the world we live in. However, try to avoid looking at profiles of people who trigger these thoughts of self doubt. You have nothing to gain in doing so besides anxiety and sadness.

There are fantastic ways to have your phone limit your social media usage also. Particularly on iPhones under settings there is the “Screen Time” area where you can see how much time you have been spending on social media and also ways to limit how long you can spend on these types of apps. As we have mentioned in previous posts it will also help to improve your performance, sleep and recovery and achieving those goals!

3. Remember Context and Reality is missing

Remember to think about the context of each post and the alternative reality that can be created on social media. It isn’t as it always seems.